Our approach to sustainability reporting
Our approach to setting our Sustainability Goals is guided by the recommended approach outlined in the United Nations Global Compact Document, Integrating the Sustainable Development Goals into Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide, which recommends a prioritisation principle for reporting against the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
REMONDIS Australia first identified all potential stakeholders for our Sustainability Strategy, then conducted an internal materiality assessment with senior management. The SDGs selected for prioritisation given our potential impact on people and the environment are set out in the diagram below.
This approach, directly linking our ambition to the international priorities for sustainability, transparently links our contribution to these Goals.
In preparing this report we re-tested this approach to our materiality assessment with a select group of REMONDIS
employees and key clients. This resulted in adjustments to our UN SDGs for focus in 2023, with the inclusion of UN Goal 6.0 Water and Sanitation as material. We will continue to reassess the materiality of the UN SDGs with our stakeholders in 2023, reviewing and adjusting our focus to ensure it continues to meet the expectations of those which our work impacts.
REMONDIS Australia maintains certifications to ISO Standards 9001, 14001 and 45001. This report also sets the objectives and targets for our 2023 performance in line with these standards.
Reducing our Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Methane from landfill represents 90% of REMONDIS Australia’s total emissions in FY21/22. To reduce these emissions, REMONDIS with our partners fgf Developments and LMS Energy undertook a significant expansion of our landfill gas collection at each of our Swanbank and Springmount sites with the additional gas collection coming online in late 2022 at both sites. These are registered projects under the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund, contributing to Australia’s emissions reductions targets.
The global warming potential on methane is 28 times that of carbon dioxide, that is, one tonne of methane released to the atmosphere is as impactful on global warming as 28 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Capturing methane and flaring it to produce carbon dioxide and water significantly reducing the resultant carbon dioxide equivalent and as such the greenhouse gas emissions.
Diesel transport fuel emissions
Operating a substantial fleet of waste collection vehicles, B-Doubles and heavy plant and equipment, REMONDIS consumes material quantities of diesel, accounting for 10% of our total Scope 1 emissions in FY21/22.
Throughout 2022 we pursued a number of opportunities to reduce the emissions intensity of our fleet. The plan to pilot a low emissions heavy vehicle was delayed in 2022, impacted by global supply chain issues.
We remain committed to the pilot of a low emissions heavy vehicle and are committing to trialling a second option for low emissions vehicles in 2023. Piloting two options will give REMONDIS further options as we look to reduce the emissions associated with our fleet.
Further, from 2023 we are committed to improve the fuel efficiency of our fleet with all new heavy vehicle to be of Euro 6 standard (80/04 ADR).
All sites’ electricity
2022 saw the installation of 500 kW of solar generation capacity across our sites with very substantive roof top solar installed at our St Marys, Lake Macquarie, Springmount, Henderson, Dandenong South and Wingfield sites. This program is set to continue in 2023 with an additional 500 kW of capacity currently being planned.
Due to unforeseen delays relating to the declared natural disaster event in South East Queensland, we were not able to install an additional 1.5 MW of landfill gas generation capacity as planned in 2022, but look forward to this additional capacity being installed in 2023 which will significantly increase our renewable energy generation capacity.
Our commitment to 100% renewable energy
Demonstrating our commitment to renewable energy, REMONDIS has set an ambitious target of ensuring that all our electricity is sourced from renewables by 2025.
We are pleased to report that with the installation of 500 kW of solar at our sites in 2022 and entering into 100% renewable energy contracts in Western Australia, we have made important progress in ensuring we meet this ambitious target.
Reporting our Scope 3 impact
In 2022 we committed to measuring and reporting on the Scope 3 emissions associated with our operations. REMONDIS’ scope three emissions were 2059 tCO2-e in the 21/22 financial year, representing 1% of REMONDIS Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions profile.
Of the Scope 3 emissions sources reported, our diesel use represented 70% of the total Scope 3 Emissions with electricity the next highest at 17%.
Our focus in reducing these emissions through the low emissions vehicle pilots, energy efficient vehicle standards and installation of renewable power will also contribute to reductions in our Scope 3 emissions.
Environmental compliance
As a responsible operator of our environmental licenced sites REMONDIS is dedicated to conducting all our operations with as low as reasonably practicable impact on any aspect of the environment. We understand the responsibility associated with the safe transport, handling and disposal of waste and are always looking to increase the rigour of environmental compliance in both ours and our supplier’s operations.
In the last calendar year, REMONDIS did not receive any penalty infringement notices, an excellent result given our portfolio of transport, resource recovery and disposal assets.
Our commitment to environmental sustainability is unwavering, and we work tirelessly to minimize our impact on the environment and protect it for future generations.
Scope 1: 98%
REMONDIS
Australia Pty Ltd
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Scope
Scope 2: 1%
Scope 3: 1%
REMONDIS
Australia Pty Ltd
Scope 3 Emissions by Source
Diesel: 70%
Electricity: 17%
Petroleum Based Oils: 1%
Air Travel: 9%
Waste: 3%
Flood recovery in South East Queensland
In February and March 2022, South East Queensland experienced extraordinarily high rainfall resulting in extensive flooding across the region. REMONDIS’ Rocklea Transfer Station was inundated and under flood water for approximately a week during this time, with access to our Swanbank Renewable Energy and Waste Management Facility also severely restricted.
Working around their own personal flood impacts, our Queensland team stood up our waste and liquids collections vehicles, operating remotely and flexibly the very next day to assist our clients in managing their flood waste. The Northgate Resource Recovery Facility and Swanbank ran for extended operating hours over a six-week period to accept the extraordinary amounts of additional waste generated in recovering from this flood event only achieved through the incredible dedication of our fantastic team. The flood recovery efforts were so swift at the Rocklea Resource Recovery Facility that we were back up and running before the power had been reconnected to the suburb.
Managing waste in the recovery after a flood event is a critical path to recovery and doing so swiftly minimises the potential hygiene impacts on an already stressed community. Our Queensland team showed that they are bred tough north of the border (to paraphrase a very famous Queenslander). We are very proud of all our Queensland colleagues and thank them for their extraordinary resilience in the face of this natural disaster.
Working within the waste hierarchy
REMONDIS is committed to processing waste consistent with the waste hierarchy to achieve the best possible environmental outcome for our clients. In 2022, we set objectives and targets related to increased recycling/reuse opportunities and providing more pathways for waste treatment. In 2023 we are seeking to further build on the capabilities and additional processing pathways we developed in 2022.
Waste Hierarchy
Most preferable
Least preferable
Waste hierarchy: Education to Avoid and Re-use
The key to effective waste management is understanding the opportunities that waste presents to promote preferable actions in accordance with the waste hierarchy.
In 2022 REMONDIS focussed our attention largely on educating our young citizens through the REdiscovery Hub at Swanbank, with more than 1,600 students, their teachers and parents participating in our tailored learning program.
For the benefit of our clients we offer voluntary additional source separation training through our online learning platform with over 200 clients taking advantage of this opportunity.
In 2023 we will be expanding both of these successful programs to broaden each of their audiences. We will use the successful programs developed for the REdiscovery Hub to provide a consistent suite of national resources for primary school aged children. We will also broaden the source separation education materials offered in 2023 and provide these through a platform accessible by all REMONDIS clients.
Additionally, we will provide our clients meaningful environmental metrics through routine reporting to provide our clients the information needed to manage their waste effectively.
Waste hierarchy: Recycle
Recycling is a positive measure to continue generating value out of material long past its potential single use. Effectively recycling reduces the need for virgin materials, promoting environmental benefits well in excess of the actual act of recycling.
Our education programs, combined with an increase in recycling processing capacity, has seen a more than 10% increase in the tonnages of potential waste diverted from landfill by REMONDIS year on year, with more than 7,000 tonnes of steel, 100,000 tonnes of cardboard and paper and 2000 tonnes of plastic recycled across the year. We were pleased to include our newly developed St Marys cardboard baling facility and the Wingfield Resource Recovery Facility operations in these reported tonnages in 2022.
In 2023 we are looking to continue promoting the circular economy through increased plastic, steel, cardboard, and paper recycling, again looking to achieve a 10% increase on each of the plastic, steel, cardboard and paper diverted from landfill by REMONDIS on 2022 levels.
We are relentless in the pursuit of new opportunities for the recycling of emerging products and in 2022 commenced the recycling of aluminium composite material. This product has become a significant waste stream as our clients seek to remove it from buildings where it has been assessed as a potential fire risk. By separating out the aluminium from the composite board, REMONDIS had recovered 27 tonnes of aluminium otherwise destined for landfill.
In 2023 we will be increasing the volume of polystyrene that is recycled, through our investment in polystyrene densifiers. We currently conduct this activity at our Wingfield site, giving our South Australian based clients the opportunity to recycle this material and plan to expand the footprint to provide this opportunity to more clients.
With significant assets across the full value chain of the waste hierarchy, REMONDIS Australia remains committed to increasing our capacity for advanced waste treatment. 2022 represented a step change for REMONDIS with the acquisition of three very significant assets resulting from the Veolia/Suez merger: Seven Hills Transfer Station, Wingfield Resource Recovery Facility and the Jandakot depot.
We also developed the Tomago Resource Recovery Facility and received all operational approvals to commence operating this diversified waste processing facility in August 2022.
In 2023 we are seeking to capitalise and consolidate this step change, further progressing viable advanced waste treatment plants and processing options.
Baling at St Marys
Cardboard, paper and soft plastics recycling has taken another step forward in New South Wales with REMONDIS now operating a stateof-the-art baling facility at its site in St Marys, Western Sydney.
The $2.5 million facility has the capacity to bale up to 25,000 tonnes of recyclable material every year.
The baling operation adds a vital waste processing link at the St Marys site, making it a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly one-stopshop for waste collection, separation, sorting, bailing and distribution for recycling.
Recyclable materials are received from other waste collection companies and also direct from REMONDIS’s large customers. Much of the material originates from Sydney’s Greater West, including local collection routes and shopping centres.
Much of the baled products will be processed via REMONDIS’ in-house Commodity Trading Desk, with bales transferred to Visy, Opal and offshore export markets for recycling into other cardboard products.
Waste hierarchy: Organic Resource Recovery
When organic waste is deposited in a landfill it decomposes anaerobically, producing methane gas – a significant contributor to landfill emissions in Australia.
When we divert this waste from landfill to a composting facility, we can prevent these emissions through aerobic decomposition, releasing less methane whilst producing nutritious compost for our gardens and farms. In our topsoil depleted environment in Australia, this source of soil nutrition represents a valuable resource that can help support healthy gardens.
REMONDIS operates two Organics Resource Recovery Facilities in Port Macquarie and Lake Macquarie in NSW.
In 2022 we sought to increase the tonnes of food and garden waste composted at our facilities on a 2021 baseline. We achieved this with an increase of 1.36%. REMONDIS is looking to expand our composting capacity into the future to support more organic recovery and is currently working through the approvals processes to do so.
In 2022 we also sought to support our customers in helping them divert their organics from landfill and measured our success in this regard with the tonnes of food and garden waste collected and diverted from landfill. We increased our collection of food and garden waste from just over 2,700 tonnes in 2021 to 3,100 tonnes in 2022* representing a 15% increase on organics collection and a significant diversion from landfill. In 2023 we will be looking to re-double our efforts on increasing organics collections, offering our clients more opportunity to reduce the Scope 3 emissions from their waste through this important shift in source separation.
Waste hierarchy: Recover Energy
REMONDIS remains committed to developing Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs) – also known as Energy from Waste or Waste to Energy – in Australia and has made important progress in working towards an energy recovery project in South East Queensland in 2022.
Recognising the significant planning and environmental approval requirements, in a rapidly changing policy landscape, REMONDIS has amended its target for the progression of an ERF to be achieved by 2030. We have also recognised that there are multiple opportunities that would benefit from an ERF and broadened the target to the East Coast of Australia to recognise these options. Energy recovery is the best possible use of residual, unrecyclable waste and our commitment to providing best practice energy recovery facilities, based on our depth of experience in Europe, is unwavering.
In 2022 we received the necessary operating permissions and installed capability to produce Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) at our Tomago Resource Recovery Facility. This processing line is designed to sort through specific waste streams acceptable for this line, recover all potential recyclable materials and bail the residual material for use in an energy recovery facility. REMONDIS continues to commission and refine this process to supply our customers with RDF suitable for offsetting their otherwise fossil fuel intake.
Tomago Resource Recovery Facility
Our multi-functional waste processing facility at Tomago fills a critical recycling gap in the Hunter Valley, with the potential to lift local recycling to unprecedented levels.
The $22 million Tomago Resource Recovery Facility nearly doubles the amount of waste REMONDIS handles in the Hunter, from about 55,000 tonnes to nearly 100,000 tonnes per year.
Sitting within Tomago’s industrial precinct, the facility receives a wide array of waste for processing and recycling, including paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, metals, wood, concrete, out-of-spec packaged food products, electronic goods, hydrocarbons and liquids such as waste oil and oily water.
A centrepiece is a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facility, which processes waste into a solid fuel that can be used for energy-making in industrial settings, and as a cleaner alternative to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal.
The waste comes from homes, businesses, construction and mining sites across the Hunter, Lake Macquarie and Central Coast, with up to 93 percent of received matter to be processed for recycling.
Waste hierarchy: Treat
Running a sustainable business such as ours also means finding ways to treat waste that would, at first glance, appear unable to be safely treated. In 2022 we committed to increasing the tonnes of hazardous waste chemicals treated as well as expand the number of facilities offering treatment options for hazardous chemicals.
We achieved this in 2022 though:
In April 2022 REMONDIS acquired a 100% stake in Environmental Treatment Solutions (ETS) through which we offer a means to consolidate, treat and process hazardous waste. ETS works across the entire hazardous chemical waste chain to provide avenues for recycled products returning hazardous chemicals to production cycles wherever possible.
In April 2022 the REMONDIS Aqua business commenced treating oily water at our Northgate facility to reduce the volume of liquid waste being disposed of to regulated waste.
In 2022 REMONDIS received permission to treat leachate at our Somerton Liquid Processing Plant in Victoria.
In August 2022 REMONDIS officially opened its Tomago Resource Recovery Facility which is permitted to receive certain hazardous substances for specific treatment.
In 2023 we will be looking to increase the tonnes of hazardous chemicals treated.
Working with our suppliers
In our 2022 Sustainability Strategy we committed to developing a supplier guide to ensure that our business partners were aware of and could plan their contribution to REMONDIS’ ambitions against our material United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This supplier guide was developed and released in June of 2022 and will be updated in 2023 to reflect REMONDIS’ more ambitious strategy.
In renewing our Sustainable Materiality Assessment in 2022, we determined that the UN Sustainability Development Goal for water was material for REMONDIS’ operations. Accordingly, REMONDIS has introduced two additional targets in relation to the measurement and management of water within our portfolio of assets in 2023.
Based on the principle that you can only manage what you measure, in 2023 REMONDIS will measure the rainwater captured, onsite water usage and recycling at each of our sites. Based on this analysis in 2023, we will be looking to improve the efficiency of our water use into the future.
Further, the generation of leachate at our sites represents an important managed risk at our environmentally licenced sites. Our current management strategies whilst achieving compliance, could be improved upon to further reduce environmental risk and we will commence this program with upgrading the leachate treatment at one environmentally licenced site to the best practice employed by similar operational sites.
Since its launch in Australia in 2019, REMONDIS Aqua has secured two significant contracts in Queensland’s transport and local government sectors.
We were excited to launch our first commercial wastewater treatment plant at Northgate Resource Recovery Facility in Brisbane in 2022, expanding the company's range of services in South East Queensland. The facility is available for REMONDIS’ operations and can accept third-party liquid waste. Its strategic location near Brisbane’s trade coast industrial area and transport corridors offers greater convenience and choice for the market, reducing the need for extended transport and lowering operational costs.
^ Commercial wastewater processing at REMONDIS
Northgate Resource Recovery Facility
Biodiversity and conservation
In 2022 we sought to work within the local community to enhance our environment, particularly in relation to the unique species that call Australia home.
As part of this we committed to piloting two projects to protect endangered species in Australia. We piloted projects at two of our sites, REMONDIS’ Springmount and Swanbank Waste Management Facilities in Queensland.
At our Springmount Waste Management Facility (a joint venture with fgf Developments) REMONDIS partnered with Wildlife Queensland to conduct a survey and provide recommendations as to how REMONDIS can protect Eastern Quolls at the site. Wildlife Queensland conducted this survey in November 2022, setting up baited camera lures at selected sample sites and collecting footage over a one-week period.
We were very excited to find a Northern Quoll within our site boundaries and were delighted to find an extremely wide range of additional native species, including the Short-Beaked Echidna and as set out in the table below. Disappointingly, but not unexpectedly, the highest prevalence of species recorded was the Cane Toad, with cats also recorded as a non-native predator. Wildlife Queensland provided recommended strategies to manage these pest species which will in turn protect the native species which REMONDIS will be implementing with our partners fgf Developments at the site in 2023.
REMONDIS operates the Swanbank Waste Management Facility located in the Ipswich region of South East Queensland. As part of our pilot biodiversity project, we partnered with the Ipswich Koala Protection Society to support their work in protecting the endangered koalas in the area. The society is known for its exceptional efforts in educating and rehabilitating koalas, and we at REMONDIS are delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to their cause.
REMONDIS has donated funds to the society’s koala education and rehabilitation initiatives, which will be used to develop educational resources, including glovebox cards. These cards will provide guidelines on what to do when encountering a sick or injured koala.
In 2022 we also committed to conducting an employee volunteer day to provide an opportunity for our passionate environmental staff advocates. Continuing our partnership with the Ipswich Koala Protection Society, REMONDIS is helping the society where needed, to improve habitat corridors in Bellbird Park in Ipswich Queensland. REMONDIS employees plan to help with the tree planting in 2023, as trees need the cooler weather for the best chance of survival.
We’re proud to be associated with the Ipswich Koala Protection Society and to support their efforts towards protecting the region’s koalas.
Based on the success of these two projects REMONDIS will redouble our efforts in each of these projects and expand our biodiversity project scope to an additional two sites.
Biodiversity survey
Wildlife Queensland’s Quoll Seekers Network was invited to Springmount Waste Management Facility to conduct a survey and provide recommendations for the protection of Northern Quolls at the site. Project officers set up infrared cameras to record one week of activity and were delighted to find Northern Quolls among a wide range of native and introduced species.
reduction in the LTIFR from 9.9 at December 2021 to 4.2 in December 2022 demonstrates a positive downwards trend we are seeking to continue into 2023.
We will do this by applying a targeted, focused, and prioritised approach upon high potential risk within the business. We are now well placed to focus on this, building on the significant work we have conducted since 2021 to embed our HSEQ Risk Management process within all aspects of our work.
Our lead indicators for focus in 2022 included managing corrective actions to completion, undertaking a monthly workplace inspection at each site, and introducing a leadership walk requirement of our Managers and Supervisors.
Recognising the emergence of psychosocial risks as a preventable workplace injury, we took proactive steps in educating our workforce on tools and resources to take positive steps to managing their mental health. A pilot of mental health first aid training conducted at our Wingfield Resource Recovery Facility in South Australia received positive feedback from all staff enrolled and will be expanded in 2023.
Chain of Responsibility
REMONDIS understands that as an owner of a significant heavy vehicle fleet, managing the requirements of the Chain of Responsibility across the full scope of our operations is critical.
In 2022 REMONDIS revised the Chain of Responsibility training for our Managers and Supervisors and commenced rolling this out in early 2023 to ensure that our Managers and Supervisors clearly understand the requirements of a responsible party in the Chain. We will refresh the Chain of Responsibility training provided to all other staff conducting transport related activities in 2023.
A key element of the Chain is the management of preventative and corrective maintenance of our fleet of heavy vehicles. In 2022 REMONDIS embedded the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) preventative maintenance scheduling requirements for each heavy vehicle in our maintenance management system MEX. Our procedures for managing daily vehicle inspections to proactively identify potential corrective actions were further embedded and we conduct routine management reviews of this activity to ensure compliance across the workforce.
Increasing Gender Equity
Disappointingly, the female participation rate at REMONDIS again remained relatively stagnant in 2022, increasing marginally from 20.86% in 2021 to 22% in 2022. Pleasingly, we are seeing substantial increases in the percentage of female participation in newly hired positions of 27% in 2022, which shows a positive trend to achieve meaningful increases in the gender diversity of our workforce.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation program is a leading practice recognition program designed to encourage, recognise, and promote organisation active commitment to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces. To date, no waste industry company has achieved this citation. REMONDIS Australia remains committed to the target set in 2022 of achieving Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation and will continue to work towards this target in 2023.
We will also be developing a diversity strategy in 2023 to provide a framework to deliver meaningful improvement in the diversity across our workforce. Lastly, building on the recent legal changes, REMONDIS will conduct a gender pay gap analysis on the published data across our employees.
Celebrating our 2021 Woman of Waste
When REMONDIS Australia’s Susie McBurney won the Waste Innovation & Recycling Awards’ 2021 Woman of Waste Award, announced in March 2022, we already knew she was fabulous, but now the wider industry knew it too, and we could take pride in sharing this accolade.
Susie McBurney is the NSW/ACT General Manager at REMONDIS Australia and has been an active participant in the waste industry from literally day one – growing up with her family’s waste business, Usshers. Susie has shown impeccable leadership and driven industry and organisational change as the first female Operational State Manager at Cleanaway in 2012 and the first female State General Manager at REMONDIS in 2014.
As the NSW/ACT General Manager for REMONDIS, Susie is responsible for 16 operational sites across NSW and ACT including resource recovery facilities and landfill operations as well as municipal, commercial and industrial collection contracts.
Supporting SMEs and Indigenous businesses
REMONDIS Australia’s Integrated and Managed Services (IMS) division manages over $120 million per annum in national waste contracts across more than 5,700 sites for 126 of Australia’s largest sustainability focussed businesses. This entails finding solutions for 528,000 tonnes per annum of waste, for which we are now achieving recycling rates across our customer base in the order of 70%. That’s around 369,000 tonnes of material diverted from landfill each year.
Given these contracts encompass sites all over Australia and New Zealand, from Weipa in Queensland to Albany in Western Australia and Dunedin in NZ, REMONDIS has established a network of more than 1,000 partners to support our service delivery. Many of these organisations are entrepreneurial small-to-medium sized businesses which have developed specialised waste and recycling services to support their communities. We see working with these organisations as integral to our ability to give our customers access to new recycling technologies, no matter where their sites are located.
In addition, we actively seek out these SMEs and Indigenous businesses to ensure they have the opportunity to service our national customers.
This is a metric that we actively track with 40.1% of our national contract spend currently going to these organisations each year. In 2023 we will continue to investigate and undertake meaningful activities to increase Indigenous engagement across the full impact of REMONDIS Australia’s work.
National Resource Recovery
National Resource Recovery is a proud family-owned recycling business located in the heart of Melbourne. Commencing operation in 1993, the Isherwood family started their innovative recycling business to recycle a range of industrial wastes when most people only considered recycling to involve cardboard and paper. They now recover a range of difficult waste streams including oil filters, waste oil, empty drums and rags from all over Victoria. The business employs 15 people and a fleet of vehicles to ensure the majority of the materials they collect are recycled. Oil filters are crushed, with the residual waste oil extracted and the metal casing sent for scrap metal recovery. Oily and solvent contaminated rags are collected, sorted, reused and laundered where possible to maximise their life.
For REMONDIS, National Resource Recovery integrate with our own fleet of equipment in Melbourne to ensure every possible waste stream is recycled from our industrial customer sites where possible.
Hazrad Australia
Hazrad Australia is a majority owned indigenous business located in Perth that specialises in hazardous waste management. Kicking off as a greenfield business in 2018, the organisation now employs 15 people, and has developed a solid reputation in Western Australia to deal with some really nasty materials such as radioactive waste, packaged controlled wastes and wastes that are also considered dangerous goods. They have recently commissioned the only PFAS contaminated water treatment facility in Western Australia and also have the capability to treat hazardous and reactive chemicals at their Bibra Lake site. They are also well regarded in providing 24 hour spill response and are our reliable go to team for difficult site clean-up activities that need immediate attention. Given their amazing growth and ability to fill highly specialised service gaps in the waste management market, REMONDIS considers Hazrad a critical partner in WA.
